AN ALPHABET BOOK FOR GENEALOGISTS

BASED ON PRESENTATIONS BY MICHAEL JOHN NEILL, RIO, IL

Michael J Denis, PO Box 125, Parksville, KY 40464

A IS FOR Abstract of Title -– Documents every change in ownership from (usually) first

patent to time document was created. Great source if land has been in family for a long time.

Adjacent -- Names on the manifest? Names on the census record? Property owners? Adjacent counties?

Alphabetize -- Have you created an alphabetical list of all the names in your database and all the locations where your families lived? Typographical errors and spelling variants can easily be seen using this approach. Alphabetical order can create limitations too, particularly when a tax list or a census record has been recorded in alphabetical order destroying significant geographical clues.

Assumptions -- While it is necessary to make assumptions in order to begin work on some problems, there often comes a time when the assumption must be put aside. The search for a marriage record may begin in the location where the first child was born, but if records are available and no marriage can be located, then it may be time to let go of that assumption. Always clearly label assumptions as assumptions. Once an assumption becomes confused with fact, it is difficult for it to return to the land of assumptions.

B IS FOR

Baptism vs. Christening -- Baptisms usually happen in infancy. Learn the custom of your ancestor’s culture and church. Christening is the naming, which may be at a different time.

Biography -- Creating an ancestor's biography might help you determine where there are gaps in your research. Determining possible motivations for his actions (based upon reasonable expectations) may provide you with new areas to research. And well-documented ancestral biographies can be submitted to local genealogical society periodicals for inclusion in their publications thus sharing and preserving your information.

Boundaries -- An incorrect knowledge of the county boundary, the state boundary, or the national boundary can cause a researcher to search in the wrong location. Political boundaries may be precise, but they may also be in constant flux. Linguistic boundaries are much more fluid and rarely clearly defined. Did your ancestor sue his neighbor over a property-line dispute? Check courts of equity. Did your ancestor’s property lie in multiple counties?

C IS FOR

Chronology -- Putting in chronological order all the events in your ancestor's life and all the documents on which his name appears is an excellent way to organize the information you have. Creating some order where none exists may make new patterns noticeable.

Church -- Might not have been the nearest church. Might be the “wrong” denomination. Churches that practice infant baptism tend to keep better records.

Citizenship -- Did your ancestor even bother to become a citizen? Were there rights of citizenship that your ancestor was not concerned about? Aliens could usually own land, sell it, bequeath it—but state statute determines that.

Culture -- What do you know of your ancestor’s culture? Is your ancestor’s ethnic heritage impacting his actions and the kinds of records she leaves? Don’t assume you act like your ancestor or vice versa.

D IS FOR Deeds -- A land transaction will not provide extended

generations of your ancestry, but it could help you connect a person to a location or show that two people with the same last name engaged in a transaction.

Descendants -- Your great-great-grandparents may have many descendants outside of your immediate family. Any of these descendants may have family information or memorabilia that could be crucial to your research. Seek them out.

Directories -- City, County, Regional, Occupational. Dynamics -- Did the family dynamics change when a

parent died or remarried? A change in dynamics can explain why some things aren’t making sense.

E IS FOR Ear Marks -- County Record Office—the place to start

looking. Estrangements -- Is the reason you cannot find your

ancestor’s parents because the family had a falling out at some point in time and there was no reconciliation?

Exhaustive –- Have you conducted an exhaustive search looking for every record / material that could answer your question?

Extended Family -- If you are only researching your direct line there is a good chance you are overlooking records and information. Siblings, cousins, and in-laws of your ancestor may give enough clues to extend your line.

F IS FOR Facts –- Can not be copyrighted, no matter how much time and

money you spent. Paragraphs and text explaining facts can. Federal Records -- Get Beyond Census and Military. Look at

the National Archives website www.nara.gov. Finances -- Did your ancestor's financial situation impact the

records he left behind? Typically the less money your ancestor had the fewer records he created. Or did a financial crisis cause him to move quickly and leave little evidence of where he settled?

Friends – What caused your ancestor to emigrate from point A to point B? You may have overlooked them or perhaps even had difficulty determining who they are. Non-relatives who interact with your ancestor by witnessing his documents, signing bonds, etc. might have been life-long friends.

G IS FOR

Geography -- Is your lack of geographical knowledge impacting your research? Was it easier for your ancestor to travel to the next county to get married? If your ancestor left home looking for work, what was the route to take? Where was the largest nearby city?

Gold -- Did your ancestor head west for “gold?”---even if temporarily? Keep in mind that “gold” wasn’t the only thing that caused a “rush” of settlement in an area.

Ground -- Old tombstones can be on or underground. In cemeteries, prepare to get dirty.

Guardianships -- A guardianship record might have been created whenever a minor owned property, usually through an inheritance. Even with a living parent, a guardian could be appointed, particularly if the surviving parent was a female during that time when women's legal rights were extremely limited or nonexistent.

H IS FOR Handwriting -- Have you studied the handwriting of the clerk or census

taker? Have you looked at old copybooks that might give insight into old handwriting?

Hearing -- Think of how your ancestor heard the questions he was being asked by the records clerk. Think of how the census taker heard what your ancestor said. How we hear affects how we answer or how we record an answer.

History -- If your knowledge of history is weak, you may be making incorrect interpretations or about your ancestor’s actions and records. The genealogist needs to have an understanding of national, regional, and local history applicable to the time period being researched. One level of history is no more important than any of the others.

Horizontal -- Did your ancestor always settle where it was flat—horizontal? Immigrants often settled in an area whose climate was familiar (or in some cases different on purpose). Farming ancestors would often seek out land that was similar to what they knew how to farm.

I IS FOR Ignorance -- Is it our ancestor’s ignorance that is causing the

problem? Did your ancestor make bad mistakes that sent their lives into a tailspin? Maybe the reason our ancestor’s decisions do not make any sense is that our ancestor was not making good decisions to begin with.

Incorrect -- Is it possible that an "official" record contains incorrect information? While most records are reasonably correct, there is always the chance that a name, place, or date listed on a record is not quite exact. Ask yourself how it would change your research if one "fact" suddenly was not true?

Information is -- Primary, given by someone who reasonably had first-hand knowledge. Secondary, given by someone who did not have first-hand knowledge.

Intestate -- No will means state statute determines who inherits what. Administrator appointed. Invalid will may be contained within papers if it was denied probate.

J IS FOR Jerk -- Don’t be one at a records office, courthouse or

library. Save any attitude, even if justified, for later. Job -- What was your ancestor's likely occupation? Is

there evidence of that occupation in census or probate records? Would that occupation have made it relatively easy for your ancestor to move from one place to another? Or did technology make your ancestor's job obsolete before he was ready for retirement?

Journals -- Written by ancestor, neighbors or relatives. Could be in state/local/regional libraries or historical societies—may be cataloged in WorldCat at http://www.worldcat.org or in private collections—relatives?

K IS FOR Katherine-Catherine -- Katie, Kate, Kathy -- consider all the name

variations and spellings. Kilo, 1,000 -- A picture is worth 1,000 words. Have you fully

analyzed a picture for all the clues it could contain? Knocking -- Are you knocking when you should be ringing the

doorbell? Perhaps there is a different tool you should be using to solve your research problem. Are there other records you are not even aware of? Make certain you are using the right tool and that you have all the available tools at your disposal.

Kook -- Was your ancestor just a little bit different from his neighbors? Did he live life outside cultural norms for his area? If he did, interpreting and understanding the records of his actions may be difficult. Keep in mind that in some cases, there may be multiple indexes to the same set of records. Use all indexes in case the desired entry is rendered differently in each index.

L IS FOR Language -- Do you understand how your ancestor

pronounced names? If your Swedish-born ancestor indicated he was born in “Cheesa” on a marriage record, he actually might have been referring to Kisa. The way it sounded to an American clerk might not have been the way it was spelled on a Swedish map.

Late -- Does not always mean “dead,” may mean “formerly.” Lines -- Do you know where all the lines are on the map of your

ancestor's neighborhood? If your ancestor was a landowner do you know where his property lines were? Do metes and bounds descriptions provide the names of those neighbors.

Logistics - How did your ancestor travel from point to point? What was required to obtain a marriage license, or to serve on a jury, or to witness a document? What was necessary for something to happen?

M IS FOR Maternal -- Are you too focused on the paternal line? Just

because that was the last name that got passed down from one generation to another does not mean it necessarily exerted any more influence on your ancestor than his maternal relatives. It might have been maternal uncles who brought your relative here instead of his father’s family.

Mc Names -- May appear in records indexes separately from the other “M” names. The Mc, Mac, O, or De, etc. may be omitted from a name—creating a new last name.

Money -- Have you followed the money in an estate settlement to see how it is disbursed? Clues as to relationships may abound. These records of the accountings of how a deceased person's property is allocated to their heirs may help you to pinpoint the exact relationships involved.

Mortality Schedules -- The Census of the Dead.

N IS FOR

Neighbors -- Have you looked at your ancestor's neighbors? Were they acquaintances from an earlier area of residence?

New -- New databases, finding aids and websites come online every day. Are you keeping up?

Newspapers -- Online current, digital copies of older issues, microfilm, local, ethnic, religious.

Nicknames -- Is a nickname causing you to overlook your ancestor? Lizzy, Beth, Betsy are all nicknames for Elizabeth, and Sally for Sarah. Your ancestor who was married to Mary in one census and Polly in the next might have only had one wife.

O IS FOR Occupation -- How did your ancestor’s occupation

impact the ability to move, lifestyle? Orient -- Do you orient yourself to new records, sources,

laws, etc., when you start researching in a new location? Outhouse -- Most of us don't use them any more, but

outhouses are mentioned to remind us of how much life has changed in the past several hundred years. Are you making an assumption about your ancestor's behavior based upon life in the twenty-first century? If so, that may be your brick wall right there.

Out-of-Date -- Are you using an out-of-date finding aid or resource? Make certain you are using a corrected or updated versions if necessary.

P IS FOR Patience -- Many problems cannot be solved instantly, even

with access to every database known. Some are difficult to research and require exhaustive searches of all available records and a detailed analysis of those materials. Some of us have been working on the same problem for years.

Patronymics -- If patronymics are being used in an area where you are researching, keep in mind that no one will have the same last name as their mother or father and that some families may choose non-patronymic surnames for their children. This is done solely to confuse the researcher.

Provenance - How did the record or artifact get from its creator to where it is now?

Q IS FOR

Quibbling -- Leads to court records. Have you checked those when quibbling might have gotten out of hand?

Quirky -- Maybe the reasons your ancestor and his records do not make sense is simply that your ancestor was just “a little different.” Sometimes we have an ancestor who was slightly flaky.

Quit Claim -- Used to settle estate after surviving parent died, transfer property as part of divorce, clear up title issues.

R IS FOR Railroad -- Did your ancestors take the train somewhere to elope,

or did an ancestor work for the railroad? Rail employees can be very mobile and difficult to track. Railroad Retirement Boards have records.

Read -- Read about research methods and sources in your problem area. Learning about what materials are available and how other solved similar problems may help you get over your own hump.

Recorded -- Have you considered looking at the miscellaneous items that are recorded in many county recorders’ offices? Out-of-state divorce decrees, military discharges, medical licenses, etc., may be recorded in the books of miscellaneous records.

Retry -- Have you retried looking at that record, database, on the chance that you overlooked something, or now that you have new information?

S IS FOR Sneaky -- Was your ancestor sneaking away to avoid the law, a

wife, or an extremely mad neighbor? If so, he may have intentionally left behind little tracks. There were times when our ancestor did not want to be found and consequently may have left behind few clues as to his origins.

Sources-- Original - in their first form. Derivative - copied, photographed, transcribed.

State Records -- State Census Records, State Military Records. Check appropriate state archives website.

Step-Parent -- Is the reason you cannot find your ancestor in the 1860 census because the mother remarried and you do not know the new husband’s name? If the child is listed with the last name of the step-father and that name is unknown to you, locating the family may be difficult and determining the name of the second husband should be high on your priority list.

T IS FOR Tax Records -- Personal and real property records may place

your ancestor in a certain place, but taxpayers may not live on the property on which they pay taxes.

Think -- Think about your conclusions. Do they make sense? Think about that document you located? What caused it to be created? Think about where your ancestor lived? Why was he there? Think outside the box; most of our brick wall ancestors thought outside the box.

Trace -- If foreign script is difficult to read, try tracing over the letters with a pencil. Sometimes actually writing the script helps a person to learn it.

Transcription -- Are you using an incorrect transcription which you have never compared to the original document from which the transcription was made? A slip of the keyboard may have created your brick wall.

U IS FOR Understand? -- Do you understand the meanings and implications

of all words in a legal document? Do you understand what a relationship means or what it might have meant at the time the document was written?

Unimportant -- That detail you think is unimportant could be crucial. That word whose legal meaning you are not quite certain of could be the key to understanding the entire document. Make certain that what you have assumed is trivial is actually trivial.

Unrelated -- Are you assuming two individuals with the same last name have to be related? It may be that those two with the same surname are completely unrelated and moved near each other just to confuse their descendants.

Unwritten -- What is unwritten may be the “real story” -- is state statute dictating what is going on? Did someone die? Did someone come of age?

V IS FOR Verbatim -- Always transcribe documents exactly as

they are written—to the best of the ability of your word processor. Use [sic] for things that seem wrong.

Verify -- Have you verified all those assumptions you hold? Have you verified what the typed transcription of a record actually says? Verifying by viewing the original may reveal errors in the transcription or additional information.

Vital Records -- Have you made your own brick wall by not obtaining vital records on all your ancestor’s children–not just the direct line? Answers to your problem may be resting in records of aunts and uncles instead of those on your ancestor.

W IS FOR

Watch -- Keep on the watch for new databases and finding aids as they are being developed. Perhaps the solution to your brick wall just has not been created yet.

Why? -- The good genealogist should be like a toddler, constantly asking “why?” If you are not asking yourself why a record was created when it was, why a name was spelled the way it was, why your ancestor lived where he did, why your ancestor waited until he was forty to get married the first time, you may be missing out on important clues.

Widow - What were laws concerning widow’s rights, dower, real estate?

Write -- Write down your thought process, conclusions, rationalizations, assumptions.

X IS FOR

X -- Xian-can be an abbreviation for Christian. Xber—the 10th month.

X-Amine -- With the letter "x" we pay homage to all those clerks and census takers who made the occasional spelling error and also make an important genealogical point. Examine closely all the material you have already located. Is there an unrecognized clue lurking in your files?

Xenogenesis - How different was one of those children from either parent? Generation-skipping genetics?

Y IS FOR Yawning -- Are you getting tired of one specific family or

ancestor? Perhaps it is time to take a break and work on another family. Too much focus on one problem can cause you to lose your perspective. The other tired is when you are researching at four in the morning with little sleep. You are not at your most productive then either and likely are going in circles or making careless mistakes.

Yearning -- Did your ancestor have a yearning to move and was never able to stay in one place? Some people are not in the same county or state two census enumerations in a row.

Yeoman -- What social status is suggested by occupational titles? Freeman, yeoman, meanings have changed over time and space.

Yo-Yo -- Was your ancestor a “yo-yo?” Did he immigrate to the United States more than once? Sometimes people went back to the homeland and never did re-emigrate.

Z IS FOR

Zealous -- Are you marked by active interest and enthusiasm? Do you show great excitement and interest?

Zipping -- Are you zipping through your research, trying to complete it as quickly as possible as if it were a timed test in school? Slow down, take your time and make certain you aren't being too hasty in your research and in your conclusions.

Z—is it really the end? -- There are times when your research is never really over. Could new information cause you to revise your conclusion?